Transported
by Griffie7198
Summary: Imaging loving something for most of your life, but knowing that it's not real. Imagine saying it was real for so long, but knowing that it's ultimately not true. Imagining it suddenly becoming real and you being involved. This is what happens for best mates Beatrice and Lucette, as they're transported into the Marauder's Era. This is an AU fanfiction. Rated T for language. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**OC Character Descriptions: **

**Name: Beatrice (Bea) Lynn Sallow**  
**Sex: Female**  
**Hair: Mocha brown ringlets, hangs to her waist**  
**Eyes: Electric blue**  
**Height: 5'6"**  
**Body Type: Hourglass**

**Name: Lucette (Luce) Anne Gastrell**  
**Sex: Female**  
**Hair: Golden red curls, hangs to shoulder blades**  
**Eyes: Stormy grey**  
**Height: 5'6"**  
**Body Type: Triangle**

* * *

"Happy birthday, Bea!" my best friend's voice yanked me from my dream, one where I had been snogging with some really hot bloke.

I groaned. "Luce, couldn't you have let me sleep for _five_more minutes?" I asked desperately. Luce sat next to me on my bed.

"Who were you dreaming about this time?" she asked. We'd been best mates for over six years, so she knew me well enough.

I sat up and hugged my pillow. "I don't even know! He was a really hot bloke, though. He had messy black hair, wore black wire glasses, had chocolate brown eyes, and he was taller than me! Tall _and _muscular!" I relayed.

Luce grinned, saying, "Sounds perfect for you, then!"

I opened my mouth to tell her about him more, when Mum called from downstairs, "Beatrice! Lucette! Breakfast is ready!"

I grinned hugely. "She probably made us waffles. Let's go!"

We bounded down the stairs, excited that Mum made waffles. They were the best thing you could ever taste.

"Morning Mum!" I said brightly as Luce and I sat at the table.

Mum walked over and kissed my forehead as she put plates in front of us. "Happy sixteenth birthday, love!"

"Thank you!" I mumbled with my mouth full of bacon.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," Dad said as he came into the kitchen.

"Morning, Daddy!" I said after I swallowed my last bite.

"What are you girls doing today?" he asked.

I was about to respond when Luce interrupted, "I'm going to take her shopping!"

Mum took interest in this. "Oh, what for, dear?" she asked. Often times, she treated Luce like another daughter. Being mates since we were only ten probably aided this.

"Well, it's for her birthday present," Luce responded, and I shot her a look. She was quick to say, "It's not what you think! I didn't forget! I know _exactly _what I'm getting you! the shop owner just told me to bring you there to get it!"

I looked at her with a teasing-suspicious look. Luce stuck her tongue out at me as Mum said, "That sounds fun! Beatrice, your father and I both have to work today, so you may do what you wish until tonight. How about we meet at the restaurant at eight o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me!" I grinned. "Love you! Have a good day at work!" After a few parting words from Mum and Dad, Luce and I were alone. We immediately ran up to my room to get ready.

"I still don't understand why you don't have your parents call you Bea. Beatrice sounds too, I don't know, stick-up-your-arse-ish for you," Luce said as I searched through my closet for something to wear. I settled on my blue-plaid skirt with a white tank top.

"Same reason why you have everyone call you Lucette rather than Luce; we have out nicknames for each other, and only each other. It would be the weirdest thing ever if someone other than you started calling me Bea," I responded as we both changed. Luce decided to wear a jean skirt and a red strapless shirt.

We went into the bathroom to do our makeup quickly. I didn't put on any shadow, rather opting for purple eyeliner and black mascara that somehow managed to make my eyes even more blue. I simply brushed out my mocha brown ringlets, not feeling like doing anything special.

Luce left her golden-red curls virtually untouched, while applying grey and blue eye shadow to accent her stormy blue eyes. They were the type of eyes that when she was calm, they could be as blue as the ocean; when they turn gray, however, it could be worse than a hurricane with how mad she got. Before leaving, I grabbed a jumper. It wasn't that cold out-it was London, after all-but I just felt some force propelling me to grab it.

I stopped at the bus stop, as we normally did when we were going to the mall, but Luce laughed. "Come on, Bea! Where we're going, we can't take a bus," she said.

I could tell that I had a confused expression, but I followed. We talked while we walked, me mostly describing the bloke from my dream. We were starting to walk in the shady part of town when we stopped in front of a store.

Through the window, I could see that everything inside was sort of morose. It had a very dark setting, with centimeters of dust upon nearly everything. I could even spot a few skulls. It was pretty safe to say that I was creeped out.

Just my luck when Luce pulls open the door and walks in.

I try to not touch anything. I could feel a sense of foreboding hanging over us.

"Hello? Anyone home?' Luce called out. Her and I stuck out here, with our bright colours on.

A man stepped out from behind a curtain. He reflected the mood of the shop perfectly, with dark clothes and hair, and a very mean look. His face brightened, if possible, when he saw Luce. "Ah, you're the girl that wanted the book!"

"What book?" I asked, intrigued.

Luce ignored me. She said, "Yes, the super rare one."

The man disappeared for a moment and came back with a package; it was indeed book shaped.

"What book did you get me?" I asked Luce eagerly.

Luce got a twinkle in her eye. "An original copy of _The Philosopher's Stone_. Signed by JK Rowling, printed with the first few that were ever printed."

I gasped out loud. _The Philosopher's Stone_was my favourite of the Harry Potter books, and was probably my favourite book of all time. The man took the wrappings off and I glimpse the cover, of Harry trying to catch the golden snitch.

I crushed Luce to me in a hug. "_You are the best best mate a girl could have!_" I squealed. "I love you so much!"

"You're welcome," Luce laughed as she hugged me back.

We both stepped forward to receive the book. I reached my hand forward, but the man pulled the book back a bit.

"You must both touch it at the _exact_ same time. _No_acceptions."

"Okay...?" Luce said, confused. I looked at her and we both reached forward to grab it. The moment our skin came in contact with the hardback cover, I knew that something was wrong. I felt something turn over in my stomach, as if it were being flipped over inside of me. I felt a wave of nausea wash over me, and I felt like someone had attached something to my belly button and was pulling me forward with it.

And then everything but Luce disappeared.

* * *

**Hello everyone! Sorry about this chapter being so short. The next one will be much longer. I've already written it ^-^ One thing that you should know about me real quick is that I write all my writings in journals, usually in class while my teachers are example, I've already written up to chapter four of this. The problem is, I'm usually to busy with homework to type everything up, but my best mate has been riding my arse to type everything up. Hopefully I'll get it all done quickly for you lot!  
Enjoy!  
~Griffie7198**


	2. Chapter 2

I was on top of somebody. This somebody had messy black hair and creamy brown eyes, covered with glasses. This somebody was a boy about my age. This somebody was _very_ muscular.

This somebody was about to say something, "You know, if you wanted to talk to me, there are easier, less painful ways to do so."

I stood up quickly, saying, "I'm _so_ sorry!"

That's when I noticed my surroundings. Luce was apologising to a bloke with longish black hair and dark eyes; it seemed like she landed the same way as I did. We were standing next to a train that said _Hogwarts Express_, below a sign that said _Platform 9 3/4._

My eyes widened in wonder as the bloke I landed on said, "S'alright. I didn't exactly mind; not _every_ day a hot girl throws herself on top of me."

"I didn't throw myself on top of you!" I said quickly. "I, uh, tripped. Me and my friend both did." I glanced at Luce to make sure she noticed and she subtly nodded.

"Sure," he said a bit sarcastically. He sounded a bit arrogant, but I could see in his eyes that he could be kind. "Want to sit with me and my mates on the train?" He asked his question a bit flirtatiously.

"Sure, as long as my friend here," I grabbed Luce's hand and pulled her closer, "can too."

"No problem," the boy that Luce landed on said. He wasn't even trying to hide that he was flirting with her.

We followed them onto the train and into a compartment where two other blokes were sitting. One of them had light brown hair and was reading, and the other had blonde hair, was slightly chubby, and looked a bit nervous.

When we walked in, both of them looked very surprised to see Luce and I. The boy I landed on said, "Hey mates! We had some girls sort of _dropped_ on us," I rolled my eyes at his little joke, "so we figured they'd come sit with us. This is-you know, I don't think you told me your names."

They all looked at us expectantly, so I said, "I'm Beatrice Sallow, and this is my best mate, Lucette Gastrell."

The one with light brown hair said, "We're the Marauders, as others have taken to call us. I'm Remus Lupin, that's Peter Pettigrew, then Sirius Black, and finally James Potter." He pointed to each of them in turn.

I had gasped aloud the moment that Remus said 'Marauders'. My brain was working fast, trying to figure out how it all was possible.

James must've noticed something different in our demeanor, because he worriedly said, "Beatrice, is something wrong? Lucette?"

Luce was the first of us two to snap out of it. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the compartment, saying a quick, "We'll be right back," to the boys. She pulled me into an empty compartment and I immediately sat down and buried my face into my hands.

"How is it possible?" I mumbled into my hands.

"I don't know," Luce responded as she sat next to me. "What do you think we should do?"

I shook my head a bit. "I'm not quite sure. I could say that it's all a dream and that we shouldn't worry, but this doesn't feel like a dream in the slightest to me. And, I think James is the bloke that I was snogging in my dream last night," I said. Luce opened her mouth to say something, probably about James, but I cut her off. "I think what we should do when we get to Hogwarts is immediately find McGonagall and Dumbledore and talk to them. I'm sure we have enough time before the feast starts and they can probably help us."

Luce nodded, agreeing with me, and there was a knock at the compartment door. We opened it to see a girl with dark red hair and vivid green eyes. "Hello!" she said brightly. "I'm Lily Evans sixth year prefect for Gryffindor house. Are you the girls that Sirius and James, er, _found_ on the platform?"

"Yeah, that's us. I'm Lucette Gastrell and this is Beatrice Sallow," Luce said. I was sort of in shock again. _Both_ of Harry Potter's-a boy I had thought fictional only this morning-parents in less than an hour? It was a bit much.

"Nice to meet you! The boys were a bit worried. They wanted me to make sure you two were alright," Lily said.

"We're fine," I responded. "It's just been... A bit much today." I smiled wearily as if I were overwhelmed. Which I guess I sort of was, if I pushed myself to think about it all.

Lily nodded. "I get it. So are you going to come back? To the compartment, I mean. We'd all like to get to know you some."

"Sure!" Luce said brightly. "We'd love to. Let's go!"

Back in our original compartment, Luce and I sat together, with Luce sitting next to the window and me sitting next to James. With the way that Luce was grinning at me, I didn't think that this was an accident. James grinned a bit to himself when I sat next to him, and I felt myself blush.

Sirius cleared his throat, "So, why is it that we've never seen you two lovely ladies at Hogwarts?"

Luce, being the girl of Irish descent that she was, blushed furiously. An alibi popped into my head, so I said, "We've been home schooled until now. We've been mates for a long while, so our parents taught us growing up together. This year we begged, saying we wanted to go out and live for a bit. Finally, after much arguing, they said yes. It was only just this morning, though, so we didn't get the chance to go shopping or anything. We even, uh, left our wands. On accident, of course. But I don't know when we'll get them."

"That's horrible!" Lily gushed.

Peter said nervously, "D-does that mean you'll have to go to classes in muggle clothes?"

"I guess so," Luce said. I looked down, having completely forgotten how I had dressed this morning. _Oh no,_ I thought as I felt myself begin to blush. _I landed on James while wearing a bloody skirt_.

We arrived at Hogwarts a bit later. Luce and I stuck out even more that we had at the shop, with everyone else wearing their Hogwarts robes.

"Hey Remus," I said. "Do you know where we could find Professor McGonagall? We need to talk to her about not having our things."

"How do you know Minnie if you've been home schooled?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Simple," Luce said, "We read about her."

Remus said, "You will probably find her in Dumbledore's office, talking with Dumbledore. Do you want me to show you there?"

I almost responded, "No thanks," but then I remembered that I wasn't supposed to know my way there. Instead, I said, "That would be brilliant, thanks!"

"No problem," Remus responded, and the three of us split from the others. We twisted through corridors that were scarily similar to the ones in the movies.

We got to the statue of the gargoyle, and Remus whispered the words _Lemon Drop_, which I assumed was the password. At the top of the stairs, Luce knocked on the door, and we stood there waiting, a bit nervously, until a voice said, "Enter."

The three of us walked in and the two professors looked a bit confused at the sight of Luce and I.

"Hello, Professors!" Remus said. "These two girls requested to talk to you both before the feast starts."

"Very well," Professor McGonagall-who again looked very similar to her actress-said. "Mr. Lupin, you may return to the Great Hall. I'm sure Ms. Evans would appreciate your help with some of the first years."

Remus left us and Professor Dumbledore waved his wand, so that two chairs appeared in front of his desk. "What can we do for you?" he asked kindly.

And then everything came spilling out of my mouth; as much as I could talk about the books without giving away the possible future, my birthday present, how we'd been transported, and what happened on the train. Luce filled in when I missed little facts.

"Oh my!" Professor McGonagall said when I had finished our little tale. She turned to Professor Dumbledore, "Albus, have you ever heard anything of this sort happening before?"

"I'm afraid so, Minerva," Dumbledore muttered in response. He turned to Luce and me, both of us growing quite nervous. "Well, I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know that you both are witches. You wouldn't have been able to get on the platform otherwise. Why you didn't receive you Hogwarts letters when you were eleven, I don't know. I'll have to do some research on the matter myself. I'm growing quite troubled about it."

"Profesor, I have a question." Luce said. Both professors looked expectantly at her. "Well, I actually have many, but this one particularly. The book that transported us, it, well, it was written about James Potter's son. But Bea and I were transported back here, to James' sixth year. How is it possible?" I noticed that she left out the fact that Lily was Harry's mum.

"Many things are unexplainable when it comes to magic. But we will send word to your parents explaining everything. I'm sure they'll understand," Dumbledore responded.

"But sir, if we're in a different time, how will the letters get to them?" I asked.

He got a twinkle in his eye. "I will get to them, I assure you." Dumbledore looked expectantly at McGonagall.

She said, "I will take you to Diagon Alley tonight to buy your things. For now, I'll transfigure your muggle clothes into robes." She did so. "Now, I think it's time we go town to the Great Hall. You two, please follow me in with the first years; you will be sorted after them."

Luce and I nodded, and followed McGonagall. I took Luce's hand in mine as we walked, nervous. She squeezed it back.

Walking through the Great Hall with the first years, I felt even more nervous. What if something went wrong? What if Luce and I really are here by mistake, and we're made fools by the sorting hat?

I was so immersed in my own thoughts, I was only ripped from them when Dumbledore said, "This year, we have two new students that will be going into their sixth year. They have been home schooled, and we are glad that they've finally joined us. Now, for their sorting. Lucette Gastrell!"

Luce squeezed my hand one last time before going to sit on the stool. She wasn't sitting for very long when the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered, and I grinned and clapped too. But I was even more nervous. I didn't think I belonged in Gryffindor; more like Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Dumbledore called "Beatrice Sallow" and I shook of my nervousness to go sit on the stool.

The hat had only just barely touched my head when it spoke, "You're an interesting one, just like your friend. I see everything inside your head, you know, including how much you've wanted this moment since you first read about it. You very clearly don't belong in Slytherin, I can tell you that. You could do well in Hufflepuff, with your kindness. You have the smarts to fit in well with Ravenclaw. But I think you have much courage in your heart. I believe you belong in... GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word echoed through the hall, and my new family cheered as I came over to sit. I looked for Luce and saw her waving at me from where she was sitting with the Marauders.

As food appeared, introductions were made. Lily said, "These are my best mates, Mary Macdonald and Marlene Mckinnon."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Lucette Gastrell, and this is Beatrice Sallow. Obviously; Dumbledore just made sure that everyone knew our names. We've been best mates since we were little," Luce responded.

We all talked a bit as we ate. I could tell already that we were all going to become good friends.

When we were heading back to the common room-which I was particularly excited to see-Professor McGonagall stopped us.

"Good evening, ladies," she said. "I'm afraid I'll have to borrow Ms. Sallow and Ms. Gastrell for a little while. You can expect them in your dorm later. They will be taking the empty beds."

"See you later," Lily smiled at us.

As we followed Professor McGonagall, I asked, "We're going to Diagon Alley, aren't we?"

"That is correct, Ms. Sallow. We're going to have to go off school grounds, then we can apparate to the Leaky Cauldron," McGonagall responded. Luce and I exchanged an excited look.

When I assume we were off school grounds, McGonagall held out her hand. I felt a stab of nervousness, with how I had read apparition was like.

It ended up not being as bad as I had thought. I mean, sure, I felt the nausea, but it sort of felt like how it had been to get to Platform 9 3/4.

We were in some sort of pub, which I assumed was The Leaky Cauldron. A few people said words of greeting to McGonagall, who turned to us. "Professor Dumbledore asked me to give these to you," she said, and handed us each a vial full of an orange liquid.

"What is it?" I asked her.

She responded, "It's a potion that will give you the knowledge of what you should have learned by your sixth year, had you really been learning."

I quickly gulped the potion down, like I would cough medicine. It was gross, easily the worst thing I had ever tasted. It tasted like a combination of drinking old milk and licking a toad.

On the bright side, however, I felt knowledge flooding into my head. I suddenly knew how to duel, heal, transfigure, brew potions, and more.

"Bloody fantastic," Luce muttered, and I knew that she was feeling the same way about our newfound knowledge.

McGonagall was grinning at us, the first real smile I had ever really seen her wear so far.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," I said earnestly.

"You'll have to thank Professor Dumbledore the next time you see him. He invented it for you just a little while ago," she responded. "Now let's go. I'd like you to be asleep soon, so you're all rested up for your first day of classes."

As we went from shop to shop, gathering our new things, Luce's and my smiles never wavered. When we chose our pets, I chose a little black cat and named her Nox, after both the spell and the fact that it meant Night in Latin. Luce chose a white owl and named her Snow.

The one thing that I really couldn't wait for was getting my wand. It ended up being 14 1/2 inches, alder and unicorn hair, slightly springy. Luce's was 14 1/2 inches, pear and unicorn hair, slightly springy.

When we arrived back at Hogwarts with nothing as proof of our disappearance-except for our new wands, which were hidden in our robes-McGonagall sent us straight to bed. "It's late and tomorrow's your first day of classes. You should be exhausted," she had said. So, Luce and I faked yawns, said thank-you and goodnight, and left. At the portrait of the fat lady, we were welcomed graciously. We interrupted her with the password ("Cockroach Clusters"), knowing that if we didn't, she would likely talk to us all night.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Dears!" she called after us as we climbed through. The common room was relatively empty. Only a few seventh years were still sitting on the couch, and they welcomed us to the Gryffindor house.

They offered to show us to our new dorm, but Luce went ahead and said we were fine. It wasn't that hard to figure out where to go once we saw the door that said it was the girls' dorms.

We had just started up the stairs when from behind me, a voice said, "Good night, Beatrice. I'm glad you're in Gryffindor."

I turned around and looked straight into the speaker's brown eyes and smiled. "Thanks James. I'm glad too. Sleep well."

Luce smiled at me as we went up the stairs, and I elbowed her in the side. "Oh, shut up."

In our new room, Lily, Mary, and Marlene were talking and giggling. "Hey!" Mary welcomed us. "Your trunks appeared while you were gone. We figured we could have a sort of girls' night while you two put away your things"

"Thanks for waiting up," I smiled. We started putting away our things that had belonged to us for only a short while.

"What did McGonagall want, anyways? She usually only does that with the Marauders, when they're getting in trouble," Marlene said.

I thought quickly and said, "Ummm... She wanted to show us around the castle, so we aren't totally confused tomorrow."

"Makes sense," Lily said, just as I put my trunk at the foot of my bed.

"Goodnight everyone," Mary said, once we had all crawled into bed and turned out the lights.

"Goodnight," we all chorused back.

Luce stretched her hand across the gap of our beds and squeezed mine. "Goodnight, Bea," she whispered.

I faintly whispered, "Goodnight, Luce," before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**I think this is the fastest that I've ever updated a story before. Ever. The sole reason is because I'm watching over two kids while their parents are at a concert. After they went to bed, I hijacked the computer. I'm so evil :3 If I don't update before Christmas (I'm planning on it, but you never know), then Merry Christmas to everybody! Or, if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays! Or, if you don't celebrate *anything*, then, I don't know, enjoy! This is what happens when I'm tired and there's a computer nearby... I'll go before I start killing any brain cells.  
~Griffie7198**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everybody! Merry late Christmas to those who celebrate it, like I do. I had a lovely day :) My parents got me these awesome Hogwarts house bookmarks! And all eight of the movies! And a *bunch* of Doctor Who stuff (which is my other major fandom)! So anyways, here's chapter three :) I had so much fun writing it! And my best friend just about exploaded from laughter, as did I. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm writing it so that I'm Beatrice and my best friend is Luce, so if we're finding it funnier than you are, that's why!  
Enjoy!  
~Griffie7198**

* * *

"Beatrice? Beatrice, wake up!" someone said, shaking my side

I rolled over and muttered, "Five more minutes, Mum."

"Here, let me," a different, more recognizable voice said. Then, some hands were at my waist, tickling me.

I giggled and squealed. "Lucette Anne Gastrell, _stop tickling me_!"

"I win, Bea," Luce gloated as I tiredly opened my eyes. "Get off your arse and out of bed if you want a shower."

"I hate you!" I called over my shoulder as I walked into our bathroom.

"Love you too!" she called back. All of the other girls exchanged a mystified look.

I was in and out of the shower, had my hair and teeth brushed, and had my robes on in record time. The five of us went down to breakfast together and sat by the Marauders.

"Good morning, ladies," Sirius said seductively, mostly directed at Luce. I could tell that he thought she was hot, the way that he kept flirting with her. Nearby, some girls glared murderously at Luce. I guessed they liked Sirius or something.

"Morning, Sirius," she smiled back, completely unaffected. James barked out a laugh at Sirius' expression.

"Sod off, Prongs," Sirius muttered at James.

"You might want to eat quick," Remus advised. "Professor McGonagall is coming around with schedules right now."

I quickly wolfed down a few pieces of bacon and an apple, knowing that I should be fine until lunchtime.

McGonagall handed schedules to each of us in turn. When she got to Luce and me, she winked. Did Dumbledore make it so that Luce and I were good at certain classes?

Luce asked eagerly, "What's your schedule, Bea?"

I responded, "Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Ancient Runes, an off period, and Advanced Potions."

Luce smiled and said that we had Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, our off period, and Advanced potions together.

All nine of us compared our schedules, and I found out that I had at least two of my new friends in each of my classes. In care of Magical Creatures, I had Luce and Lily. I had Luce, James, and Sirius in Transfiguration. In Charms, I had Lily, Marlene, and Mary. I had Remus and Peter in Herbology. Lily and Remus were both with me in Ancient Runes. Finally we all had our off period at the same time, along with Advanced Potions (except for Peter, who apparently didn't score high enough on his OWL in his fifth year).

"This year is going to be awesome!" I said, meaning it. I didn't know what could dampen my spirits right now.

"We should probably all get going," Remus said. "First class is going to start soon."

Sure enough, within seconds the first bell rang. Luce said as we started down the hall, "Hey, Lily? Where's the classroom for Care of Magical Creatures? Professor McGonagall, um, didn't tell us."

"Actually, it's not in a classroom. Hagrid is teaching it this year while Dumbledore looks for a proper teacher. Hagrid is the school groundskeeper," Lily responded.

"Sounds cool," I said, trying to hide my excitement about getting to meet Hagrid.

Then, as we walked outside, Lily warned, "But don't be scared of Hagrid. He's one of the sweetest men I know. He looks scary, though, because he's half giant. I think he'd only harm someone if they were intentionally trying to harm a student."

"He sounds great," Luce said, and smiled.

We got down to his hut relatively quickly, with the three of us talking. Lily was talking about all the teachers, trying to get us familiar with all of them before we have their class.

"I can't wait for Transfiguration!" Luce said. "Professor McGonagall seems really nice and like an awesome professor."

"She is," Lily agreed, "You just have to be careful with James and Sirius in your class. They get in trouble with McGonagall all the bloody time."

"Lily!" a voice boomed, and I looked to find Hagrid. "Good ter see ya!"

"Hagrid!" Lily smiled happily and hugged him. "It's good to see you too! Where were you during the sorting ceremony?"

"I was taking care a buckbeak. He was a bit skittish," Hagrid responded.

"Well, you missed a pretty awesome night! These are my new friends, Lucette Gastrell and Beatrice Sallow. They've been home schooled, so this is their first year at Hogwarts. Guys, this is Hagrid," Lily said.

"Hello, nice to-" I started to say. I was interrupted when Luce and I were both suddenly wrapped in a bone-crushing hug.

"Good ter meet ya!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Any friend a Lily's is a friend a mine!"

"Uh, Hagrid? Don't crush their spines. And it looks like it's time for class to start," Lily pointed out.

"Right!" Hagrid said as he let go of us. "Everyone gather 'round!"

"You guys okay? Hagrid can give some pretty tight hugs," Lily asked us.

"Just fine," Luce coughed. I nodded as I coughed as well. Someone shushed us from behind, so we decided to pay attention.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So that's where Transfiguration is," Lily said. She had agreed to show us to where to go after Care of Magical Creatures. "You can probably get James and Sirius to show you to your next classes." With a wink at both of us, Lily left for her next class.

I looked at Luce, a confused expression drawn on my face. I asked, "Did she just insinuate...?"

Luce laughed, "I think she did!"

We were both still laughing as we walked into the Transfiguration room.

"What's so funny?" James asked when he saw us.

"Yeah, we like a good joke!" Sirius said.

"Nothing," Luce laughed out.

"You wouldn't get it," I said. Hell, I didn't even for sure get why we were laughing so hard.

"Everyone, please take your seats. I'd like to get class started before it's over," Professor McGonagall said.

James and Sirius sat at a desk in the back corner. James said, "Hey Beatrice, we saved you guys a seat in front of ours."

"Thanks James," I smiled at him as Luce and I said down. Luce grinned at me. "Shut up!" I whispered at her as McGonagall started talking.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun felt so nice on my skin, after being inside all day. This was pretty much how I spent our whole break: laying on my back in the grass, next to everyone. All of us were lying down, except for Peter, Lily, and Remus. Peter had left to talk to one of the teachers, already confused, while Lily and Remus were working on essays.

"What time does our break end again?" Sirius asked lazily.

"Uhhh," Lily started, but the bell rang, interrupting her, "Now."

I jumped up and starting gathering my things. "Sod it all! I forgot my potions book in my trunk! I'll meet you all in the potions room, I'm going to go grab it!" I said, then started to run to the Gryffindor Tower.

I don't know how I managed, but I got to the potions room, before any of my friends were there. A few people were standing around, but none of them were ones that I knew. A boy with long, greasy black hair walked up to me and said, "Hi."

I responded a quick, "Hey."

"I'm Severus Snape, from Slytherin house," he said.

My eyes widened as I nodded, acknowledging what he said. _Really?_ I thought, _Of all the people that could choose to come talk to me, it had to be him?_

"You're one of the new girls, right?" he asked.

"Beatrice Sallow," I responded, instead of saying yes. I looked around, hoping that my friends had somehow appeared to help me. No such luck.

Snape smiled at me. "Want to sit with me today, Beatrice Sallow?"

Just then, someone put their arm around my waist. "There you are, Beatrice! You got your book fast!" James said to me. Then, turning to Snape, he sneered, "Sorry, _Snivellus_. The position's been _filled_." Then, James sort of pulled me away, his arm still wrapped around my waist.

We sat down at a table near the back of the room. I looked at James, and his expression was a bit worried. "Erm, sorry about that. I don't know if you wanted to sit with him. You just looked like you needed rescuing or something."

I nodded. "I did. I really, um, don't like Snape. I _really_ didn't want to sit next to him," I said, thinking of all that had happened between Harry and Snape in the books.

"Why don't you like Snape?" James asked, confused. "I mean, I know why _I_ don't like him, but why don't you?"

I had to think quickly. "Um, well, I uh, heard what he did to Lily last year. What he called her. Besides you Marauders, she was my first real friend here at Hogwarts. I feel loyal to her. A git like that doesn't deserve to be able to sit next to me."

James smiled as Sirius and Luce sat in front of us. In front of them sat Remus and Lily, then finally Mary and Marlene in the very front. James said, "I'm glad you agree."

XXXXXXXXXX

Potions class flew by, along with the time that we had before dinner. We were all sort of just randomly talking about things, like our lives and whatever popped into our heads. Somehow, the topic had turned to the topic of baby names.

"I really like the name Rose, for a girl," Lily said. "Or Violet."

"How about Rosemary? Then she could have the nickname of Rose," Mary pointed out.

Lily brightened a bit. "I love that," she smiled.

"I like the name Teddy for a boy," Remus said. "The full name would probably be Theodore, but I just like the nickname Teddy."

Luce and I exchanged a glance, thinking about Remus _had _ended up naming his son Teddy. I said, "I really like the name Harry for a boy. I've always thought that it had a nice ring to it." Luce shot me a look, saying _Why the hell would you say that?_ I shrugged back, as if to say _What's the harm?_

"I love the name Harry," James said. "I've always wanted a little brother named Harry. Maybe I'll name my son Harry one day."

Lily scrunched up her nose. "I don't like Harry that much. I'd prefer the name Aiden."

I think mine and Luce's eyes just about popped out of our heads. Luce sputtered, "You don't like Harry? But... You named... Huh?!"

Everyone shot Luce confused looks. I elbowed her in the side to get her to shut up. "We thought we heard that you named a dog Harry, Lily. Maybe we misheard you."

"You'd have to have," Sirius said. "Lily doesn't even own a dog."

"I probably did. I mishear things all the time. Like how I heard you could be a real _dog_ sometimes, Sirius," Luce said, trying to tease Sirius.

He paled a bit instantly, knowing that she knew. He wiped it away quickly though, replacing his expression with an easygoing one. "Talking about me, are you?"

I couldn't resist. I said, "Just words of gossip that all girls exchange. We also heard it's like your _feet_ have _pads_ on them, you can leave a room so quietly."

This time, all the Marauders plus Lily paled. Mary and Marlene looked positively mystified. "Well," Luce said suddenly. "I'm getting a bit tired. I think I'm going to head back."

"I think I'll join you, Luce," I said. "Goodnight everyone." We left everyone laughing, while they all looked after us in wonder.

* * *

**Oh, and before I go, I just wanted to thank my first reviewer :) you made my day! I couldn't stop smiling! To the rest of you lot that are reading, please review! It really helps me with how I'm writing!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter! Sorry that it took me so long to upload. I just started school again and everything's been crazy with my homework and everything. Enjoy this chapter!  
~Griffie7198**

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_The next few weeks passed in a blur, one filled with many essays and much laughter. Luce and I became very close to Marlene, Mary and Lily; James and I flirted nearly every day (turns out he was over his crush on Lily); and Sirius got laughably rejected by Luce way too often. It was a week before Halloween, and we were all overjoyed by the announcement of a school-wide Halloween dance. Unfortunately, it was also one of the worst nights I'd ever had. _

"So Luce, you want to go to the dance with me?" Sirius asked Luce. He was trying to act suave, but he sounded pretty desperate. He seemed to really fancy Luce.

Just then, Snow, Luce's owl, flew into the Great Hall and dropped a letter into my lap. I almost opened it right there, but then I noticed the handwriting. This letter was from my parents.

I looked at my friends. Sirius was still asking Luce to the dance, with Luce repeatedly denying him; Lily and Remus were talking (and possibly flirting); Marlene and Mary were off flirting with some Hufflepuffs; and James was laughing with Peter about something.

I didn't notice James glance at me as I stood up to leave to Great Hall, to read my letter in private. I had a bad feeling about this letter, and I didn't want to break down in front of anyone. I quickly walked through the halls, looking for someplace to read. Eventually, I became so lost, I simply sat down.

The outside just read my name, and I opened the envelope. Seeing my dad's handwriting felt like a piece of home. The letter read:

_Beatrice Lynn: _

_What are you thinking? Not showing up for your birthday dinner, and then having that crackpot woman visit us, saying you're at some sort of special school? And not sending word for over a month? That is ridiculous, young lady! And then convincing Lucette's parents of the same tale? This joke has gone a little too far. Don't even think about coming home._

There wasn't even anything signed at the bottom. They've disowned me! My own parents! Before I could properly think about it, tears were starting to drip down my face. Within seconds, I was having a full-on sob-session.

I faintly heard someone saying, "Beatrice? Beatrice, what's wrong?" but I ignored them, sobbing even harder. I think the only person that could _maybe_ make me feel better right now was Luce.

The voice was more forceful now. I saw a figure crouching in front of me, but I didn't focus on the features. The voice said, "Bea! What's wrong?"

The use of my nickname ripped me out of depression-land long enough to see who was in front of me, and I blinked the tears out of my eyes enough to see. "James?" I sobbed. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you leave the Great Hall. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Obviously, you're not. What happened?" he asked gently. I started to sob even more, and James pulled me to him in a hug. A distant part of myself pointed out that I was a red-eyed, tangled-haired, snotty-mess of a girl, but I didn't really care anymore. I knew enough to hide the letter from James, but only so he didn't figure out that our story wasn't true. I quickly thought of a story that was close enough to the truth to tell him.

"What happened, Bea? What's making you break down like this?" James asked worriedly.

"My p-parents," I sobbed out. "T-they disowned m-me. All b-because I wanted to stay h-here at sch-school with everyone."

"What?" he gasped out. I could tell that he was outraged.

"A-and they told me a-another thing," I continued. "M-my dad w-wrote that I w-was adopted. T-they said t-they found m-me in a m-muggle orphanage, and t-took _p-pity_ on me! I-I'm really only a m-muggleborn."

"Hey, shhh, it's alright," James said soothingly. "So what if you're a muggleborn! There are worse things to be. Hell, you could have been sorted into Slytherin!" I cracked a smile through my tears at this. "The point is, you're still Beatrice Sallow. You're still one of the nicest girls at this school. You're still the kick-arse girl that I've fancied since she first fell on top of me."

"Really?" I asked in slight wonder. I hadn't been expecting _that_. I had been expecting a lot of things, but none of them included _that_.

"Yeah," he grinned. "Beatrice Lynn Sallow, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Hogsmeade visit tomorrow?"

"The honour is all mine, James Charlus Potter," I smiled back.

XXXXXXXXXX

James and I stayed together for a little while longer, just talking and cuddling. He was telling me things about his life, and him growing up, to get me to stop thinking about my parents. When it came to the point where I practically fell asleep laying on top of him, we walked back to the common room together, where he said goodnight to me outside the door to the girls' dorms. When I got up to my dorm, all of the girls were laying on their beds, talking and waiting for me to get back.

Luce was the first to see me, and she immediately stood up. "Bea! Where've you been? We've been waiting for you for forever!"

As a response, I flopped down on my bed and sighed happily, looking up at the ceiling. Luce said, "Ooh, I know that face! That's your _boy_ face! Come on, spill it! Who were you with?"

Marlene said suggestively, "Did anyone see _James_ after dinner, perhaps?"

"If any of you tease me about this, I swear to Merlin I will find the worst possible jinx and use it on _all_ of you," I promised.

"Yeah yeah yeah, we promise. Now tell us!" Lily insisted.

So I told them. I told them how I had left the Great Hall to read the letter, how I had started crying when I read the letter (I told them the same story I told James. I'll tell Luce the real story later), and how James had comforted me and asked me to Hogsmeade. When I got to that part, they all squealed at the same time, as if on cue.

"I knew you two would make a cute couple!" Mary said happily. I grinned hugely.

Luce gasped. "Now we have to find you the perfect outfit! Maybe you could wear the outfit that you were wearing on our first day?"

I looked at her like she was insane. "You do know how cold it can get, right Luce?"

"I know!" Lily said, and then went to dig through her trunk. She came out with a little black crop-top jacket, a jean skirt, and black tights. "You can wear the shirt that Lucette wore on the first day! It would be perfect!"

"Lily, you're a genius!" I said, and went over to grab the things that she handed. Good thing that we were all _about_ the same size.

"By the way, you all don't have to call us by our full names," Luce said, after we exchanged a look.

"What do you mean?" Marlene asked.

"Well, you know how I call her Luce?" I said.

"And how I call her Bea?" Luce asked. They all nodded.

"Well, those are sort of our best-mates-names. You know? I think we're close enough to consider each other best mates, don't you?" I smiled.

"Definitely," Mary said.

"I have some news too," Lily grinned. "About the Halloween dance."

"Did you get asked too?" I asked, excited.

Lily nodded. "Remus asked me almost immediately after Dumbledore made the announcement. He said that he's been wanting to ask me out for months, but 'only just now got the balls to do so'. It's gonna be amazing!"

"That's so fantastic!" I gushed. "I knew there was something going on between you too. Something more that friends."

"Well, since we're on the topic of dates..." Luce started, but she was cut off by Mary.

"Don't tell me you have a date too?" she asked incredulously. When Luce nodded, she turned to Marlene and said, "Marly, you and I are going to be the only girls without dates, aren't we?"

"It's okay," Mary said reassuringly. "We'll charm those Hufflepuffs."

"_Anyways_. Luce, you were saying?" Lily prompted.

"Yeah, Severus Snape asked me. And I said yes," Luce responded, as if it were no big deal.

We all sat there, with our mouths wide open. "_What?_" I gasped. Did I hear her right? Did she _really_ say 'Severus Snape'?!

"You know how Sirius constantly asks me out?" Luce prompted. When we all nodded, she continued, she said, "Well, tonight was no different. He kept asking me to the dance, saying that I just _had_ to go with him. At one point, he said something along the lines of 'If you don't go with me, then I guess you aren't going with anybody.' So of course, I took it as a challenge. I was just waiting for someone that Sirius didn't like to come up and ask me. A few blokes took the chance, but Sirius looked rather indifferent to all of them. He knew what I was searching for. Finally, Severus came up. I must've had some sort of look when Severus asked me, and he began dragging me away by my wrist. I had to call back to him that I would go with him."

Marlene laughed a bit, Mary looked like she was having confused feelings about the topic, and Lily and I were both gaping. Luce murmured to herself, "I suppose that I should talk to him tomorrow, and let him know that I really do want to go with him. Anyways, night ladies!" And with that, she turned out the lights, leaving us all shocked.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, after eating a quick breakfast and getting dressed in the outfit chosen for me, I went downstairs to the common room. James was sitting on one of the couches in front of the fire, listening to something that a third year was saying. When he saw me, his whole face literally lit up and I heard him say, "Sorry, mate, my date's here." before coming over to me.

He swept me up in a hug, and spun me around in the air. "Morning, beautiful."

"You sure do know how to sweep a girl off her feet," I giggled, and hugged him back.

"You ready for our date?" he whispered in my ear as we walked down the corridors. He led me to a statue.

"Of course," I grinned back, "But why are we standing in front of this statue, rather than going to Hogsmeade?"

"This is sort of a short cut to Hogsmeade. It will lead us right into Honeydukes," James responded, then opened the statue so it became a tunnel.

"Lead the way," I said, and I took his hand in mine. Within minutes, we were climbing out of a latch into the candy shop that I'd read about so many times. Before I could really look around, James pulled me out of the shop and started leading me down the road.

"We can go back later, I just figured we could really start off our date first," he said a bit nervously.

"Okay," I grinned. He took me into a little tea shop that was scarily girly. There was pink _everywhere_. Don't get me wrong, I love the right shade of pink, but this was just sickening. I had to stifle a groan when I saw the name of the shop: _Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop_.

James looked about as uncomfortable in this shop as I felt. After ordering us both cups of tea, he grinned at me, though the grin looked rather pained. There were couples making out at all the tables around us.

"Please tell me you want to leave this place as much as I do," I finally said, not being able to stand it.

"Oh, thank Merlin," he said quickly, dropped some coins on the table, and swept me out of the door. "Thank you for not making me stay there any longer."

"_Why_ did you think it was a good idea to go there?" I asked him, teasingly.

"I don't even know," he responded. We walked into the Three Broomsticks, ordered some butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and sat at a table. "Sirius somehow convinced me it was a good idea to take a girl on a date there."

"I think he was maybe trying to trick you."

"I think you're right. How's your butterbeer?"

I took a sip of it, and I felt warmth run through me. It tasted like happiness. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" I gulped down some more.

James looked incredulous. "Tell me it's not your first time ever having some!"

"Sorry. Guess I can't say anything. My mum never let any form of alcohol into the house. _Ever_."

"Oh, my Bumblebea, how much I have to teach you then."

I felt even more warmth run through me at his nickname.

"So tell me about you growing up. You probably don't want to talk about your parents, but I want to know about you, and about how you and Luce became friends," James prompted.

I had to think quickly for a story. I really liked him and I didn't want to lie to him. I'd have to talk to Luce about telling him the truth. "Luce and I became friends a bit before we turned eleven. She moved into the house next to mine, and we became friends almost instantly. Mum had been able to sense that she was going to be a witch, a she had with me, and she started to teach us both magic. We dropped out of muggle school, quickly figuring out that it would be impossible for us to keep up with the workloads. This year, we'd heard about Hogwarts. Luce and I both instantly wanted to go. Luce's parents agreed easily enough, knowing that she'd probably learn better in an actual school.

"My parents, however? Not so much. My dad was the type that wanted everything perfect in his house; even if he was a muggle, he expected his witch daughter to be the best of the best. My mum was even worse. I love my mum very much, but she was hard to deal with sometimes. She seemed to think that I was the report of how well she was teaching. If I was doing well at something, she'd push me harder, thinking that I could do better. If I did badly, she was convinced she wasn't doing a good job of teaching. I couldn't win."

James visibly winced. I felt horrible for lying to him. "That must have been hard."

"It was. But enough about my parents. I don't want them ruining our date. How about we pretend that we haven't known each other for two months? Ask each other questions and the like?"

"That's a brilliant idea! I'll start. What's your favourite candy?"

I thought for a moment, and took a drink of my butterbeer. "Either Chocolate Frogs or Cauldron Cakes. I like my chocolate. You?"

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! I love not knowing what it's going to taste like!"

I scrunched my nose up. "But what if you get a weird flavour? Or a gross one? Like toe fungus?"

"That's part of the fun!"

I giggled. "You're so weird! You can have all of mine from now on."

"Score! Okay, now what's your favourite animal?"

"Either a turtle or a penguin. They fight for dominance on a regular basis. Let me guess for you... A stag?"

James turned a bit nervous. "H-how'd you know?"

"Oh, I heard Sirius call you 'Prongs' a bit ago. I figured prongs meant antlers, so stag became logical in my mind. Where's your favourite place to be in the entire world?"

"That one's simple! Surround by my friends and family. It makes me happy. What's yours?"

"In a book."

"What d'you mean? How can you be in a book?"

"Reading a book. When I read, I'm transported in another world, usually an impossible one. You know what I mean?"

I was met with a blank look. Obviously not.

All of a sudden, Sirius stomped in, and sat down next to James. "Sure, Padfoot. Go ahead and sit next to me. It's not like I'm on a date with a girl I really like or anything," James muttered, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

"Glad you don't mind, Prongs," Sirius said back darkly.

James sighed, "What's wrong, mate?"

Sirius' expression turned even darker, if that was possible. "She's just out there! Flirting with him! It's like she's doing it just to annoy me! Well, it's working. Doesn't she know how much I like her? How much I really want to punch Snivellus in the face for so much as looking at her like he is?"

"Who?" James asked, confused. "Who are you talking about?"

Apparently he hadn't been caught up on last night's events. Sirius didn't respond. When James opened up his mouth to continue, I shot him a look that plainly said _Shut up right now, I'll deal with it._ I said gently, "Sirius, do you mean Luce?"

When he nodded glumly, I continued, "She's a rebel, Sirius. She always has. What did you tell her last night? That she couldn't do?"

I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. James looked _very _confused. Finally, Sirius said, "That she couldn't go with anyone if she didn't go with me?"

I nodded. "She took that as a challenge. She _hates_ being told what to do. If someone tells her to do something she doesn't want to do, she will try as hard as she can to do the opposite."

Sirius returned, "But doesn't she understand that I was just trying to get her to go with me? That I didn't want to see her in the arms of another bloke?"

James was starting to catch on. "Rule number one of women, Padfoot. _Never _tell them what they can and can't do. It's just like pranking when McGonagall is around. It's dangerous."

"You don't say!" Sirius said back sarcastically.

I said, "Man Sirius, for a bloke that goes out with a lot of girls, you know next to nothing about them..."

Madam Rosmerta walked by, giving Sirius a butterbeer, and Sirius let his head fall down onto the table. "What do I do?" he groaned out.

"Nothing," I responded. I got shocked and confused looks from both the boys, so I continued, "You leave her alone. You show her that this doesn't bother you, no matter how much it actually does. She chose Snape solely because of how you hate him. If you act indifferently, then she'll quickly get bored, and will eventually end the relationship."

"How long will that take?" Sirius asked me.

I thought for a moment. "A month. Maybe a month and a half. It'll be over by Christmas holidays."

"Christmas?" both the boys asked incredulously.

"Come on! She'll have fun with this! For now, Sirius, just be her friend. She doesn't want a guy hounding after her constantly. If anything, that'll just drive her away more. She'll become convinced that you're just after her for the chase. Trust me on this, I know Luce. I know that she'd rather have a friend than a boyfriend, and if you become _both_ for her, you'll be golden," I explained.

"Do I have to?" Sirius asked. "I really just want to be with her. Do you know how hard it will be for me to see her with him?"

"Yes, I do," James responded. I had thought the question was intended for me, so I looked at James, very confused.

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah," he responded. "Do you know how many blokes flirted with you in the two months that you've been here?"

I was completely mystified now. "Guys flirted with me?"

James chuckled and Sirius said, "For a girl that half the male population of school is after, you sure are blind."

"_Half?_" I said, not believing it.

James nodded. "The other half is after Luce. We rarely get new girls."

"Merlin, I am blind," I muttered. "Anyways, Sirius, you'll be able to last a month. I promise. And I'll talk to her."

"Talk to her about what?"

"Oh, a lot of things. I have a few choice words for her..." I trailed off.

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**I just wanted to thank Arina-Peachy for reviewing every time I upload :3 it makes me very very *very* happy! And I get a little warm fuzzy feeling inside every time I make James call Bea Bumblebea :3 I feel like it's *so* adorable :3 I'm working on chapter five right now, which is a pretty dang important chapter, I feel. Maybe it's just because of all the fluff between James and Bea. It's entirely possible.  
Please please please ****_please_**** review, guys! I would really appreciate it!  
~Griffie7198**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter. Blame my best friend. She wrote a little excerpt (further down, with her own author's note) and she took forever getting it to me. Anyways, this is a pretty important chapter, so here you go!  
~Griffie7198**

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"What are you thinking?" I asked Luce, exasperated. It had taken me awhile to find her after everyone had returned from Hogsmeade. When I finally did, I pulled her away from Snape and his friends into an unused classroom, so no one would overhear us on accident.

"What d'you mean?" Luce asked, confusion written across her face.

"Dating Snape!" I responded.

"Oh, that. It's not _that _big of a deal."

"Yes, it is! Snape is supposed to pine after Lily for the rest of his life! That's why he despises Harry! Think about how he'll treat Harry now!"

"'How he'll treat Harry'?" She responded incredulously. "You're dating _James bloody Potter_! There might not even _be_ a Harry Potter anymore!"

I opened my mouth to come up with a response, but nothing came out of it except for a sigh. "You're right. We're a mess, aren't we?" I said pathetically, much more calm than I had been before.

Luce barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess we are. That's what happens when you travel back in time to an impossible world where you know everything that is supposed to happen."

I sighed. "What are we supposed to do? You said it yourself, I'm with James, and I really like him. I know that I've only known him for two months, but I don't see myself breaking up with him any time soon. So will Harry not be born? Will Voldemort end up winning, because Harry isn't there to stop him? Or will Harry still be born, only differently?"

"I don't know if we should be worrying about it. I mean, no matter what, we've changed the future. I don't know about you, but I don't see James and Lily getting together any time soon, with how Lily has been with Remus. I think that we'll just have to accept what comes, and not fight against it."

"I think you're right. Just do me a favour. Be nice to Sirius."

"Why should I? He's being a total arse about everything!"

"The git likes you! That's why!"

"He just sees me as a challenge. You should have seen him last night! He was being so-_arg!_-possessive! I don't like it!"

"You think he's just chasing after you for the hell of it? You didn't see him during the Hogsmeade trip today."

Luce seemed taken aback. "What happened in Hogsmeade?"

"The prat broke up my date because of you. He saw you and Severus together and, well, let's just say he _really_ didn't like it."

Luce grimaced. "I'm sorry about that. But I do actually like Severus. He's different than I had imagined him to be. I want to actually be with him for awhile, and see where our relationship goes."

"I get it. Just be nice to Sirius. I've told him to lay off of you, but that means that you have to be civil with him as well. Simply be friends with him."

"I can do that. But if he starts being possessive again, I might hex him into the future."

"I'll help. One more thing, before we leave. I think it's time that we tell Lily."

Luce feigned ignorance. "Tell her what?"

"Tell her about us. Tell her the truth. I trust her."

"I think you're right. Let's go find her."

When we did find her, we pulled her into the same classroom Luce and I had been in before. "What did you want to tell me? And why'd you pull me in here?" Lily asked, confused.

"We, well, um..." I said nervously.

And then the story just poured out of Luce's mouth, almost without pause. She only took a break to take a breath, where I filled in on the details. As we told her, Lily's eyes grew slowly larger.

"You both trust me with this?" Lily asked, in shock when we had finished.

"Yeah, we do. You're one of our best friends, now," I said. The breath rushed out of my lungs when Lily quickly crushed us in a hug. I was really glad we had finally told her.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, when the girls got down to breakfast, all expressions around the Great Hall were grim. "What is it? What's wrong with everyone?" I asked as I sat down next to James.

Wordlessly, he handed me today's_ Daily Prophet_, and my eyes quickly skimmed over what was written. I gasped out loud. "'_Five muggles have been killed. Wizard causes are suspected_'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that You-Know-Who has killed a bunch of muggles, and they're probably too afraid to just come out and say it was him," Sirius responded, sounding agitated.

"You-Know-Who? You mean Voldemort?" I asked.

Mary quickly said, "Don't say his name!"

"Why not?" Luce asked. Then, she quoted, "Fear of a name only increases fear in the object itself."

"He's still terrifying, whether you say his name or not," Peter said, and he shuddered.

A bloke with white-blonde hair and steel gray eyes walked up to where we were all sitting at the Gryffindor table. I was comparing faces in my head, and my suspicions were confirmed when James ground out, "Lucius. What are _you_ doing over _here_?"

"Oh, Potter, I merely observed that you were reading the _Daily Prophet_," Malfoy responded, sounding about as slick as a snake. I trusted him even less than I would trust Draco, were I to ever meet him.

"Then why come over here?" Remus asked.

"He wants to brag," Sirius responded, saying it more to Malfoy than to Remus.

"Why in the world would I want to brag? Those poor, erm, _muggles_ dying wasn't _my_ fault," Lucius said, sounding not at all apologetic.

"No, it was just your leaders fault," James muttered under his breath.

Malfoy suddenly turned to face Luce and me, as if noticing us for the first time. "I'm afraid we haven't been introduced. My name is Lucius Malfoy," he said, bowing slightly.

Instead of gracing him with a response, Luce turned around and took a bite of bacon, showing that she honestly didn't care. I simply stared at him, trying to convey the same message.

I felt James' hand reach down to hold mine, and he responded, "This is my _girlfriend_, Beatrice Sallow. And her best mate, Lucette Gastrell." The way he said it showed his protectiveness of us two, especially me, with the way he said 'girlfriend'.

"Ahh, yes, Lucette. The one that Severus will be going with to the dance. I can see he climbed to the lowest rung of the ladder," Malfoy sneered.

Sirius suddenly stood up and pointed his wand at Malfoy. "Don't you _dare_ talk about her that way!" he snarled. Even if he was defending her about something that included Snape, he would defend her. This made me smile on the inside a bit, at his loyalty.

Malfoy, completely unaffected, said with disdain, "_Someone's _got a crush," before walking back to the Slytherin table.

Sirius sat down with a huff and said, "I can't _wait_ until I can hex his head off..."

Lily sighed, "What should we do?"

"There's nothing we _can _do," Remus responded. "Just hope for it to get better."

XXXXXXXXXX

It didn't. Get better, that is. In fact, during the next month and a half, it only got worse. More and more muggles went missing, then were found dead later, with the Dark Mark hanging over their houses. It was growing close to our winter holiday, and muggleborns and half-bloods were becoming scared to go home. It wouldn't be long before it was us that were being targeted, rather than just muggles.

Today was our last day of classes, and tomorrow we left on the train for Christmas. As we walked into the Great Hall for lunch, we ran into McGonagall. Literally, in my case.

"Professor McGonagall! I'm sorry! What are you doing down here?" I asked .

"Actually, I'm looking for you and Miss Gastrell," she responded as she straightened her robes, "Will you be staying during the holiday? I'll need you to sign the list, if you are." She gave us a look, and I found her true meaning. Luce and I had to stay here; we couldn't go forward in time to our parents.

"Where's the list?" Luce asked.

Sirius sputtered, "Wait, you're staying _here_? I mean, Hogwarts is _amazing_ during Christmas, but you shouldn't be left here!"

Luce shrugged. "Well, I don't want to leave Bea here alone, as she wouldn't want to go home."

"You can come home with me!" Lily said suddenly. We all turned to look at her. "I mean, I'll have to talk to my parents tomorrow, but they're always saying more of my friends should come to visit!"

"Yeah, and you can come to my house for Christmas Eve, and Christmas! I was planning on talking to you about it during dinner, but my parents already approved you coming. I asked them a few days ago."

"As long as you're sure," I said, a bit worried. I didn't want to seem like a burden or anything.

"Why wouldn't they be sure? Lily's parents are really nice, they won't mind. And James already has Sirius there all the time, so it would just be more people. In fact, I'm sure James' mum will love you!" Marlene said.

"Thanks, guys. We really appreciate it," Luce said. I saw McGonagall grin before she left. Had she been hoping something like this would happen?

"Let's go to lunch, I'm starving!" James said, and he pulled me down the hallway.

"You're always hungry," I pointed out.

"Sad, but true. She's got you there, Prongs," Remus said as we all sat down. Lily sat next to him, and giggled. They had been together as long as James and I had, and they were a very cute couple.

"Too bad," James muttered back, his mouth already full of food.

Just then, Severus came up to the table. "Hey Lucie, aren't you going to come sit with me?" he asked expectantly.

"Well, I sort of wanted to sit with my friends. I haven't really sat with them a lot lately," Luce responded. I was glad she said no. Ever since they started dating, Severus sort of expected he to follow him like a puppy dog. She sat with him during most meals, and usually sat with him in potions. The only time that I ever really ever saw her was right before bed, in our dorm.

Severus made his expression into a dejected one. "All right. I just thought that since you'd be staying here for Christmas, you'd want to spend as much time with me as you could."

I don't know what possessed me to do so-maybe the fact that he was trying to guilt Luce-but I said, "Why don't you sit with us, Severus?"

James, Sirius, Lily, and Marlene all shot me looks that said '_why the hell did you say that?!_', Remus was looking like he'd rather not be in the middle of all this, and Peter gave a little squeak and tried to hide in his jacket. Mary and Luce simply looked shocked.

Severus also looked a little surprised, but still managed to say, "Er, alright." I figured he'd be a little uncomfortable. No one at the table really liked him, except for Luce. Even I was getting sick of him. I didn't like how he never stood up to his friends about Luce, and I've heard him and his friends talking about me. Luce said she heard it too, so I didn't understand why she didn't break up with him.

We all sat there in an uncomfortable silence, until Luce suddenly said, "Oh! Bea and I actually _won't_ be stuck at the castle for Christmas!"

"You won't?" Snape asked, confused.

"Nope!" Luce said brightly. "Lily invited us to stay at her house during break. And we're going to James' house for Christmas."

"You are?" he asked, sounding like he was almost dreading it.

"Yes, they are," Lily confirmed, glaring at Snape. "You see, Sev, I don't want my _best friends_ having to stay here during break, and James wouldn't let his _girlfriend_ spend Christmas at school." Lily very obviously didn't like Snape, and the way that she put emphasis 'best friends' and 'girlfriend' showed how protective she was of us. Why would she like Snape, after what he called her? And I agreed with her; he should have done _something_.

"Er, well, I've got to go," Severus said after a moment, rather uncomfortably. "I'll talk to you later," he said to Luce. With that, he sped out of the Great Hall.

"Honestly!" Luce said with an exasperated sigh. "Did you really have to do that to him?"

"It was a test," Lily said simply. "And he failed."

"You all are mental," Luce muttered as we got up to go to our next class.

"Yes, but you love us that way," Sirius grinned.

She blushed and said, "And I have no clue why..."

I couldn't help but grin.

XXXXXXXXXX

**{a/n: heyyy :)) (this would be your normal author's best friend here) who has her own fanfic too, which (if you like this little bit here) maybe you'll consider reading? (it's called A Little Bit of Magic by rose013... just in case you wanted to know) yes, I know, I know Griffie7198, this isn't about your fanfic, but you can't blame me for tempting them :D... Anyways, Griffie here was kind enough to let me write part of this chapter for you! Maybe I'll be writing more in the future? *hint hint* but anyways, read onwards, my delightful friends!}  
Luce's POV**

Off period passed regularly, with James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus planning a prank that was supposed to go down in the next week while Bea, Lily, and I tried to work on our homework. Tried being the operative word, as the sun shifted position in the sky I glanced up in shock and quickly gathered my things with a quick "I promised I'd meet Sev!" while Sirius mimed gagging with James and Remus laughing.

As I neared the Great Hall I scanned the area until I saw Severus. I smiled as Severus caught my eye, but thoughts of Sirius (mainly what he thought about Sev and my relationship, and what everyone else thought too but were just too polite to say) still floated around my mind. While it was fun dating Sev, and I really liked him and enjoyed our conversations, I got the feeling that he still wasn't over Lily, no matter what he said, and our relationship had been declining even faster since he had informed me that he was staying the with the Death Eaters, even if I didn't like it.

Personally, I thought it was a little harsh for everyone to hold calling Lily a mudblood against him, he apologized profusely and I could tell that he deeply regretted it. He beat himself about it constantly, wishing that he could go back in time and change what had happened.

My smile shrunk a little at the thought of Lily, I was just going to make this harder on Severus in the end really, and it would be harder on me too if I actually fell in love with him, but I wanted to give him another chance at love. It didn't seem like it was going to do any good though, I didn't think he was ever going to get over Lily, just like the books said he wouldn't. When it came right down to it, I felt really, truly sorry for him. He was so sweet and one mistake shouldn't ruin his life.

"Hey, Sev," I said, giving him a hug. He smiled down at me and we walked down the hallway holding hands. I couldn't stop thinking about Sirius, even when I was with Sev, what was _wrong_ with me? I didn't like the feelings I got when I was around him. I was with Severus, and that was that. I knew that he hated the fact that Sev and I were dating. Hell, even Bea hated that we were dating! And Bea knew what a great man he turned out to be! Could they really be _that_ averse to him?

"Are you ok?" he asked, glancing down at me, then staring around us as we walked through the school.

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged, nodding to the corridor that lead to the kitchens and we changed course, heading that way for some much needed chocolate.

"Is it James and Sirius?" he asked, voice taunt with anger and hatred. He had never liked them, probably never will. I laughed at myself a little, _what am I talking about? Of course they'll never get along! No probably about it!_

"No, they're-" but I never got a chance to finish my sentence because just then Avery and Regulus stepped out from the shadows, a dark sneer twisted Avery's face and I instinctively shrank a little away from him.

"What are you two running off to? Going on a _date_?" he said, voice thick with sarcasm.

"What business is it of yours, Avery?" I asked sharply.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" he near shouted, voice and face filled with rage, "you're just a filthy mudblood!" I flinched as though I had been slapped even though I had known it was coming. That word truly was awful. Severus looked between us, unsure of what to do.

"Not going to stick up for your girlfriend, Severus? What, do you not like her? I could always have a go if you don't mind," Avery sneered. Severus blanched slightly but didn't say anything. I could feel tears threatening and swallowed hard.

The arguments and feeling of never being better than Lily in his mind was bad enough, but I couldn't handle him not sticking up for me too. Our dating had started as feeling sorry for Severus and wanting to show Sirius that he couldn't control me, but I really had grown to like Severus, even through all of our fights.

"Sev?" I asked a little weakly, giving him another chance; I really didn't want to leave him. He really had turned out to be a great guy.

"I-" he shot a look at Avery's maliciously grinning face and stopped abruptly. "I- I can't," he stuttered. Avery nodded at him to continue, probably to insult me or something, but I held up a hand to stop him. Regulus stood behind him, as if a little unsure about this whole confrontation.

"I understand, Sev. Really, I do. Just, in that case, we can't-" I swallowed through the lump in my throat, "can't really be together, huh? It was nice while we had it though, Sev. I really did like you, just so you know."

His face paled a little more but he said nothing so I turned and walked off down the hall. Once I reached the end, where I was sure they couldn't see me, I broke into a fast paced walk, which quickly turned into a job, then a sprint. I didn't know where I was going until I stopped in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, tears already blurring my eyes. I hated that Sev hadn't stood up for me, I hated that he had stayed with his Death Eater friends. I understood, but I hated it. And I hated myself most of all, for knowing this end was coming but still crying like a baby over it.

I didn't completely understand why I was crying either, it's not like I was in love with him or anything. He was just... safe. He was sweet, honorable, and trustworthy. At least, he turned out to be.

"Ohhhh, come to have cry have we?" Moaning Myrtle said to me with a giggle. I ignored her and walked briskly over to the sinks, finding the one with the little snake on the faucet easily. The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Looking in the mirror I saw that tears had already cut tracks down my face and I looked tired. _Snap out of it, Luce, he'll be fine. You'll be fine, _I thought, splashing water on my face and taking a deep breath.

Just then I heard the bell for class ring, with a wince I remembered that I had potions. Potions with everyone (except Peter, who apparently couldn't place high enough on OWLs), including Severus.

And suddenly I was furious. Furious to think that anything could come of a relationship with Severus. Furious that I hated listening to Bea when she said it was a bad idea. Furious that I had let myself feel anything at all for a man that I knew would never feel anything in return. Furious at Avery for calling me a mudblood. Furious at myself for letting it get to me. Furious at the world. At life. Everything.

Before I realized it I was walking, fast-paced, towards the Potions room. I stormed through the door and stomped over to the table where Sirius was still sitting and he looked up in surprise, which quickly turned into something like fear when he saw my expression.

"I'm gonna kill the bloody git, honestly. I'm so stupid." I muttered under my breath angrily as Severus walked in the door.

"Luce, what's wrong?" Bea asked gently and I grimaced, feel the pain surge back up underneath all the anger.

"I broke up with Snape."

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the classes went slow during the day. I couldn't wait for our off period and potions, because that meant we were even closer to leaving.

Near the end of our off period, Luce raced off, saying she was going to go talk to Severus. We didn't see her again until Potions, where she stormed in seconds before Professor Slughorn marked her tardy.

She was fuming and practically had smoke pouring out of her ears. Her skin was flushed red, and I noticed that her eyes were a pure swirling gray colour; they only turned _that_ shade of gray when she was close to murdering someone.

Everyone in the class, knowing of her infamous temper, quieted down and watched Luce. Sirius, since she had chosen to sit next to him, looked particularly nervous. He knew what it was like to be on the wrong end of her anger.

I now noticed that she was muttering murderously under her breath, about how she was going to kill "him". Sirius looked even more nervous now, and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he thought over all he'd done wrong.

To save him the worry, and to quench my own curiosity, I gently said, "Luce, what's wrong?"

"I broke up with Snape," Luce responded with disdain.

Before even I second had passed, Sirius exploded, "Yes! Finally!" James punched him on the shoulder, and he said, "I mean-I'm so sorry. That must be horrible." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Snape slip into the classroom.

Everyone in the class laughed, and even Luce smiled. "You know, I'm not upset about it. Happy, even. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

"What happened? I mean, you seemed relatively fine earlier. What changed?" Lily asked. I could see Mary and Marlene, and the look they both had showed they were burning with curiosity.

Luce gave a quick, obviously condensed story of what had happened with Snape. When she finished, Sirius stood up, found Snape with his eyes, and said with a deadly calm but furious tone, "I'm going to kill him. _And _his friends." Sirius tried to move over to him, but both James and Remus had hold of his arms.

"Ladies, gentlemen!" Professor Slughorn said, interrupting something that James was going to say. "Settle down! We simply _must_ get class started! You may or may not kill each other on your own time!"

That shut nearly the whole class up. Not a second went by when Sirius wasn't glaring at Snape, until Luce leaned over and whispered in his ear. I couldn't wait until class was over so I could talk to her.

XXXXXXXXXX

The second that Slughorn released us, Lily, Marlene, Mary, and I all swarmed Luce, and started pulling her out if the class. Before we made it out of the corridor, I looked back and saw James' and Sirius' expressions, and I quickly went back.

"Girl talk time, we'll be in our dorm, we'll see you at dinner. Okay?" I said to him, then went up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, before running to meet my friends.

When we finally reached the dorm, Luce immediately turned to me, "Now, before I start talking, you will. Did I see you kiss James?"

I flushed. "Um, well... Yeah," I grinned. All the girls squealed-knowing that I hadn't had my first kiss yet-and I continued, "I didn't even think about it. It just felt... Right."

"Of course it felt right! You two are _perfect_ for each other!" Mary said.

"Exactly! But you _have_ to explain, Luce!" Marlene said.

"Yeah, don't think you're escaping," said Lily.

Luce quickly explained what had happened, and added in more details.

"What did you whisper in Sirius' ear that calmed him down?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," she responded nonchalantly. "Just that I was glad that Severus and I broke up before Christmas, when I would see him. By the way, you don't suppose there will be mistletoe at James' house, do you?"

"I think it can be arranged," I responded mischievously. I'd talk to James later.

"So you're finally starting to admit that you like Sirius?" Mary asked.

"Yeah," Luce grinned. "I really am."

I flopped down onto my bed. "Finally!" I groaned into my pillow.

"We're you anxious at all, Bea?" Marlene teased.

"My boyfriend's best friend-who is also a close friend of my own-and my best friend have been flirting for months, but refused to date, and they're finally going to be together. What do _you_ think?"

Luce laughed. "Come on. We have _not _been flirting for months!"

"Remind me the conversation you had when we first met James and Sirius?" I requested.

Luce glared, while everyone else laughed. "Shut up. Now come in, I'm hungry and I want dinner."

As we left our dorm, Lily whispered to me, "I bet she just wants to be with Sirius," to which Luce countered, "I _heard_ that!" And both Lily and I laughed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, after dinner, we all relaxed in the common room. Well, not all of us. Marlene and Mary were probably still in the Great hall, flirting with the Ravenclaws they had been with when the rest of us had left.

During dinner, Luce and Sirius had finally admitted their feelings for each other. Well, technically, Luce told Sirius that she liked him, and he kissed her immediately. We had to throw food at them to get them to part. They were now on a couch, cuddling and talking quietly. I heard Sirius whisper something about him kicking Snape's arse, but that's to be expected. Lily and Remus were sitting in one of the window seats, looking out the window at the snow, talking.

I felt as if I had the best deal. James had somehow managed to get the best armchair in the common room, the one right beside the fire. I was sitting in James' lap, with his arms wrapped around me and my head tucked in the crook of his neck.

"Mmm... I could stay here forever," James muttered.

I nodded, feeling perfectly content.

"Though, I'd really like it to be Christmas, so I can give you your present," he continued.

I thought for a moment, then said, "I'm positive you're going to love your present." I thought of the tickets that were hiding in my trunk.

"If it's from you, then there's no way that I won't."

I felt a small smile slip onto my face. "I can't wait until we can visit you on Christmas. It's going to be magical. Well, even more than usual."

"Me either. My parents are excited to meet you as well."

I felt a bit of nervousness stab through my stomach. "Are you sure that there's enough room for us?"

I felt him nod. "My parent's manor is huge. There are _plenty_ of guest rooms at home."

"It's so nice of your parents to invite us."

"We do a Christmas party on Christmas Eve every year. I was going to tell all of you about it on the train tomorrow. I asked Mum if it would be okay if you just go ahead and stay for Christmas and she said that she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"What sort of party?"

"One with all of my parent's friends. So about a hundred people will be there."

"What should I wear? I've never been to a Christmas party," I said sleepily.

"I'll have to asked Mum to be sure, but I'm pretty sure it's cocktail attire."

"Mmm..." was all I murmured back. Some distant part of my self noticed that a clock was chiming, and that twelve rings were echoing through the common room. The last thing that I consciously remembered was James lightly pressing his lips to my forehead, before I lightly drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

When I woke up the next morning, I was in bed and it was because Marlene was literally jumping on top of me and saying, "Bea! Come on! You've _got_ to pack! The train leaves in an hour!"

_That _definitely woke me up. I got up quickly, changed into my robes, and started throwing things that I would need into my trunk, which pretty much included just my clothes and my books, for the homework that I'd been assigned. Luce shot me a smug look from the door of the bathroom. She had been packed for over two weeks.

"Uh, Bea? Unless you want to meet everyone's parents looking like a homeless person, you _might_ want to fix your hair," Luce said. I quickly ran into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Luce was right; my hair looked like Snow had made a nest of it. I set to work quickly, knowing I had only maybe fifteen minutes.

"Come on, Bea! We have to leave _now_!" Mary shouted. Scratch that. No minutes.

I put Nox in her cage and carried her through the common room and the rest of the castle, to where the carriages to take us to the station were waiting. I knew that my trunk, along with the train would be waiting for us there.

When we get to the station, I searched frantically for my trunk, not finding it anywhere. I was really starting to freak out, as the train was signalling that it was leaving soon.

James leaned his head out a window and shouted, "Bumblebea! What are you doing?!"

"Freaking out, trying to find my trunk!" I shouted back.

"It's here, in the compartment!" James called. "I brought it in for you a while ago!"

I breathed out in a huff and ran to get on the train, which was starting to pull out of the station. When I got in our compartment, I was met with guilty expressions from everyone.

James was the first to speak. "Sorry Bumblebea," he said. Before I could say anything, he held out a bag of Cauldron Cakes and continued, "But on the bright side, the Marauders snuck out last night and got you these."

I quickly grabbed the bag and sat down in my seat. "You all are forgiven," I said as I ripped open the bag and took my first bite of one. James chuckled and put his arm around my shoulder.

And that's pretty much how we spent the rest of the train ride, except for when we all changed out of our robes. I realized that, while staying at Lily's, Luce and I would have to go shopping; I didn't really have any muggle clothes.

When we arrived at King's Cross, we all quickly grabbed our things and filed out of the train. Nox didn't like how I was carrying her and my trunk, and she kept mewing.

While we were looking for parents, James and Sirius brought us back some trolleys. First, Lily put her's down, then I put mine on top of her's, then Luce's was on top. Luce and I put Snow on top of Luce's trunk, and we continued searching through the throngs of people.

Finally, James put his arm around my waist and said, "Bumblebea, I've found my parents."

I followed his gaze to where a man and woman were standing together. When they spotted James and me through the crowd, they smiled and started over. It was obvious that they were his parents.

"There you are! We've been looking for you everywhere!" James' dad said, and I smiled.

"Hi Mum, hi Dad! How have you been while I was gone?"

"We've been lovely dear. Your aunt is visiting for the holidays and arrived a few days ago," James' mum said. She turned to me, and said brightly, "Hello! You must be Beatrice! James has told us so much about you in his letters!"

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," I grinned.

"Please, call us Charlus and Dorea! We feel as if we already know you," Charlus said.

"Please, call me Bea, as well. It's the nickname I've taken to using lately," I said.

"You will be coming for Christmas and Christmas Eve, won't you, dear? James never owled us back with _any_ of his friends' affirmations," Dorea said, shooting James a look.

James looked a bit sheepish. "In my defense, I was trying to remember stuff for my exams."

"You were sneaking into the kitchens with Sirius, Remus, and Peter," I corrected.

Dorea laughed at the same time James jokingly said to me, "Throw me in front of the broom, why don't you!"

"Well, you _are_ captain of the quidditch team. You should be quick enough to dodge a speeding broom," I countered.

Charlus let out a huge belly laugh. "I like this girl, James; she keeps you in your place!"

"I like her too," James said seriously, all joking gone, looking into my eyes.

Before I could respond, I heard Lily shout, "Bea! We have to go!"

"I've got to run, but it was really nice to meet you!" I said to Charlus and Dorea. To James, I said, "I'll write to you every day."

"You better, Bumblebea. I'll see you on Christmas Eve," James responded.

I walked back to where Lily and Luce were waiting for me. Sirius was talking to James' parents, and Mary and Marlene had already left.

"My parents are waiting on the other side of the barrier with Tuney. Tuney doesn't like seeing anything having to do with magic," Lily said. The three of us ran through at the same time, Lily driving the trolley.

The family that had to be Lily's was waiting right outside the barrier for us. "Hi Mum! Hi Dad! Hi Tuney!" Lily said brightly.

"Hello, sweetheart! Welcome home from school!" Lily's Mum said.

"These are my friends that I mentioned, Luce and Bea," Lily said. To us, she said, "These are my parents, along with my sister Petunia."

"Hello!" Luce said, at the same time I said, "It's very nice to meet you!"

Lily's parents greeted us, while Petunia simply looked like she would rather be anywhere but here. Mr. Evans said, "So, are you girls waiting out here for your parents?"

I was about to respond when Lily interrupted, "Actually, they're going through some family problems and can't go home. Would it be okay if they stayed with us for the Holidays? James invited all of us for Christmas, so they'll be gone for that."

"Of course you can, dears!" Mrs. Evans said. "No one should be alone during the holiday season!"

Petunia groaned and I said, "Thank you _very_ much, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. We really appreciate it!"

"It's no trouble at all. Now, we should get going. We don't want to hit traffic on the way home," Mr. Evans said.

* * *

**So I hope you all enjoyed that! Did you like me bringing in Rose her little part? I thought it was a good idea, since I really wanted to write the part of Luce/Sev from Luce's point of view, but I can't change POVs to save my life. The characters always end up sounding too similar.  
Anyways! O.O that was a long chapter. My longest so far, I think. I'll have up chapter six as soon as possible, I'm already like half (if not more) way through it. Please do me a favour and review! I love hearing from you guys! Let me know what you think of the story, what you'd like me to write in the future, what you want me to change, ANYTHING! :D  
Oh, and for Rose, I'll put this in. Go read her fanfic! It's a next-gen fanfic (James S. Potter & OC), and it's called A Little bit of Magic, written by rose013 as Rose said earlier. I'll probably be bringing her back again later, so hope you like her writing!  
I'll stob babbling now.  
~Griffie7198**


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